Internet Anthropologist Think Tank

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Search for Binny, Tora Bora fly over 1,000 feet

Analysis of the acoustics from Binnys video indicates it was done in a cave or cave like area, about 6 x 6, This is a fly over the Mountain range that contains Tora Bora, its marked.
Your looking for a 6 ft 4 inch man surrounded by body guards.

Whirling dervishes take on the Taliban

Pakistanis have turned to prayer, hashish and frenzied dancing in an attempt to overcome their twin troubles; the Taliban and internal political turmoil.

The frenzied festival for the Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

More than half a million pilgrims flocked to Sehwan in Sindh for a festival for one of Pakistan's chief Sufi saints, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, last week. "It is better than disco. If I do not come here, I do not feel right," said Idrees Rehman, a bus driver, as the festival and its whirling dervish dhammal dances ended yesterday.

The slogan "Dama dam mast Qalandar", which roughly translates as "endless inspired intoxication for Qalandar" has entered Pakistan's political lexicon. It denotes unrestrained agitation which can be mobilised either in support for an ally or against an enemy.advertisement

In a room smelling sweet with incense and petals, Ahmed Bhutto, who called himself a physics professor, said: "We are the anti-Taliban force. We stand for love, tolerance and the great infinity."

The shrine, not far from the ancestral stronghold of exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is patronised by the Bhutto clan, who sit atop a hierarchy of Pirs, hereditary saints who hold significant power in politics in rural southern Punjab and Sind. The festival drives to the heart of Pakistan's battle for souls. Shia, Sunni, Hindu, Sikh and Christian all worship at the shrine that is a symbol of tolerance.

al Qaeda HUNTERS

The Al Qaeda HuntersAl Qaeda and As Sahab are taken by surprise by the American Al Qaeda watchers who got hold of the Osama tape even before they had released it. ...B. Raman

Since 9/11, the US has a number of non-governmental Al Qaeda watchers, who have been doing tremendous service to the cause of the war against global jihad by systematically monitoring the various Internet sites known to be used by Al Qaeda, its propaganda and PSYWAR wing calleed As Sahab and other pro-Al Qaeda organisations and drawing the attention of the international community and their policy makers to significant statements and developments. Many of them are very proficient in their command of the Arabic language and are also experts in information technology.

Every time Al Qaeda and As Sahab have come out with an important statement or announcement, it is this community of voluntary Al Qaeda watchers, which has detected the imminence of the coming statement or announcement and alerted the public and the policy-makers.

This community excelled itself even more than in the past on September 7, 2007. when it not only detected a brief alert issued by As Sahab regarding the imminence of a new video message by Osama bin Laden----the first since October,2004--- but even managed to get a copy of the video and put out its English transcript even before As Sahab could disseminate it through the Internet and the Al Jazeera TV station.

Al Qaeda and As Sahab were totally taken by surprise by the exploit of the American Al Qaeda watchers in getting hold of the tape even before they had released it. This created a scare in As Sahab that there could be a human or electronic mole in its midst and in a remarkable instance of crisis management, Al Qaeda and As Sahab went off the Internet for some hours till they were able to re-engineer their web presence. They have since started re-appearing one by one----apparently after assessing the damage and taking the required corrective action.

This exploit of the American community of Al Qaeda watchers is much more significant than the message itself. The most important fact of the message is that it sets at rest the speculation that bin Laden is either dead or in bad health. This speculation arose from the fact that there has been no video message of his since October,2004. The video messages circulated since then were a rehash of the past, but there were fresh audio messages, including one in April,2006, in which he described the global jihad as directed against the anti-Islam conspiracy of the Crusaders, the Jewish people and the Hindus.

The second interesting fact is that the latest message, which seems to have been recorded in the second half of August,2007, is full of more taunts than threats.It claims that there has never been a massacre of Jews or Christians in the Islamic world and refers to the presence of a large number of Jews in Morocco and Christians in Egypt in support of his assertion. It also highlights what it considers as the failure of the US to make headway in Iraq and Afghanistan and of the Democrats to bring about a change in the policies of President George Bush. He compares President Bush to the former Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev who ordered the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and hints that just as the policies of Brezhnev led to a collapse of the Soviet empire, the policies of Mr.Bush would lead to a collapse of the American empire.It refers to the influence exercised by the American corporate world over policy-making irrespective of which party is in power and says that one cannot expect a change in the US policies so long as this influence continues. It concludes on a mocking note that the only salvation for the US lies in the American people embracing Islam.

The message carries no indicators regarding Al Qaeda's future plans and tactics.It is doubtful whether it will have an ispirational impact on the Muslims of the world.

The successful hijacking of the video message by American Al Qaeda watchers shows that it should be possible to track down Osama bin Laden and other remnants of Al Qaeda hiding in Pakistani territory one day and neutralise them. The US Al Qaeda watchers' hunt for bin Laden is improving in finesse and sophistication.

Analisis AQ video, Binnys home video.

He says its against Islam to burn humans, even ants, but he obtained a fatwa to kill 10 million Americans with a nuke?

What I got from a first reading is that they don't plan on using a nuke in USA,Binny took alot of grief from peers and religious leaders for not giving USA the proper warning before 911, chance to convert to Islam. This is an Islamic warning.

And he seems to be doing so now, WHICH MAY FORTEL an attack soon.

Update:The vid title is "The Solution"The BLACK beard is a sign of being at war.He has no gun in view.His hands are in front of him in a non threatening way.He argues USA joining Islam from the indigenous point of view, ie lower taxes.An sincere attempt to convert USA, using argument based on our interests.He in effect says there are no innocent in USA.But have we had the offer of truce yet?His last video I believe.Binny sounds almost sad.

Feels like something big.

ODD video graphic freezes at 1:54, while audio goes on ( you can hear the beep beep as the video battery goes dead)? ( use zoom feature )

Gerald

Update: The accoustic signature indicates it was recorded in a cave or cave like structure and made with poorly maintained equiptment, there is a drive wheel thatsqueeks all the way through the vid in the background, all indications Binny himselfmade the tape. made both with audio recorder and video recorder.VHS from the sound of the squeaking drive wheel.( put on your stereo head phones turn the volume up, you will notice the slight echo, and the squeaky wheel in the background )

At 9:35 they switch the Arabic sub-title to English.

Looks like maybe Binny himself made the video in a section of the caves.The room he is in is around 6 feet square.It is humid, or where the camera was stored was humid.Binny is alone.

The abrupt ending speaks to Binny alone with out advisors.He did not check the full video tape,so they made the film with the last good frame,hence binny is frozen, non moving.

And by the time it was shipped to As-sahab,and they discovered the glitch there wasn't timeor it was to risky to make another vid.

Osama Bin Laden's widely reported video address to the American people has a peculiarity that casts serious doubt on its authenticity: the video freezes at about 1 minute and 36 seconds, and motion only resumes again at 12:30. The video then freezes again at 14:02 remains frozen until the end. All references to current events, such as the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan, and Sarkozy and Brown being the leaders of France and the UK, respectively, occur when the video is frozen! The words spoken when the video is in motion contain no references to contemporary events and could have been (and likely were) made before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The audio track does appear to be in the voice of a single speaker. What I suspect was done is that an older, unreleased video was dubbed over for this release, with the video frozen when the audio track departed from that of the original video.

Reply to Bin Ladden's Video 7.8.07

"There is no God but Allah; Mohamed is the Messenger of Allah" In the name of God, praise be to God, and praise and blessings be upon the Messenger of God, his family, his Companions, and all those who follow him.

Reply to Bin Laden in his own terms.

Binny I have studied you for so long I feel like I know you.And I am praying you will forgive my informality.

It has been 6 or 7 years since the first attacks.

Your name is known across the world.

Your crusade has not gone well.

You have killed around 7,000 Americans in 5 years.You have lost two Middle Eastern Countries.Lost most of your cadre, and another 100,000 troops.YOU have a civil war going in Iraq which threatens to spreadto the rest of the Muslim world.Your dream for a caliphiate is still a dream, you have Muslimkilling Muslim, killing women and children, bombing Mosquesand market places all an afront to Allah.

You say you see the USA people want to stop the war and they march in the streets, and elected the democrats to stop the war, but the corporations are controlling the White House.

You call for the people to throw off the Democracy of the USA,Yet you see in the Middle East even how hard it is for Muslims tochange the shape of those Governments.

And you allude to the concept that "none are innocent" in USA.

I claim that many are innocent in your terms, unable to change the governmentjust as those Moslems in the countrys in the Middle East.

So why are you targeting American peopleAllah said: [O Al-Kâfirûn (disbelievers in Allâh, in His Oneness, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, in the Day of Resurrection, and in Al-Qadar.)! I worship not that which you worship , Nor will you worship that which I worship And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion, and to me my religion (Islâmic Monotheism) ] al-Kafirun .

By your own words it is not the American people controlingthe White House but the corporations.

Attacking the American people would list Bin Ladenwith George Bush for attacking Iraq.

You have clearly stated who you think your enemy is ,and it wasn't the American people,by your own words it is the corporations and globalization.

So why are you targeting the American people in the USA?

You say it is against Islam to burn humans, Islam would have protected the Jews,yet you get a fatwa to burn 10 million Americans ( with a nuke? ). Or did you forget?

You have clearly identified the coprorations as your enemy not the American people.

Allah said : (Allah has promised, to those Moslems among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion -the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: 'They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me. 'If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.) 55,AlNOOR.

Moslems created the al Qa'ida.

Asking the Lord to accept. The overall objective of this bulletin : Brothers and sisters urged to publish this article to relatives and friends, and in the mosques, and every person standing on the Internet Through the printing and distribution of the bulletin, and read on boards and also through sent by e-mail and e-mail Different groups, and chat rooms. , and other ideas that have the positive impact.

Friday, September 07, 2007

net neutrality : we will tell the grand kids about it.

Comments of Google Inc.WC Docket No. 07-52June 15, 2007iEXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe FCC should adopt a national broadband policy that seeks to further network neutrality as amarket environment. As part of that policy, the Commission should promptly initiate arulemaking proceeding to consider various proposals; these include:• incremental fixes (more and better broadband data, user transparency mandates)• structural changes (various forms of network-based competition)• a ban on most forms of packet discrimination• an effective enforcement regime.These policies represent modular, multimodal mechanisms for creating new user options anddisciplining the market behavior of the incumbent broadband providers.

It looks like this isn't going to happen, we are going to be paying more...and getting less, Bush seems to be against it.

Those free loadin bloggers will be harder to read, less popular,they use up to much band width, and can't be controled.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comcast has punished some transgressors by cutting off their Internet service, arguing that excessive downloaders hog Internet capacity and slow down the network for other customers. The company declines to reveal its download limits.

Muslim extremists are masters of social WWW.

Muslim extremists are masters of Internet: Wiesenthal report( Muslim extremists are masters of social WWW. as we have just seen USA cyber troops can shut down any site any time, so the extremists ARE masters of the social WWW but they don't control anything. )

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Radical Muslim and other extremists have mastered the use of the Internet as a tool for propaganda, organizing and education, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a new report Wednesday.

"They are way ahead of the curve in term of using Internet technologies. Right now

it's a clear field for the bad guys," said the Jewish organization's associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper, author of the report "Digital Terrorism."

Released on a CD-Rom, the report compiles more than 7,000 websites, blogs and chat rooms for Islamic extremism, according to Cooper.

"But the truth might be way beyond that" number, which can change quickly as techniques evolve, he said.

( 63 % of al Qeada's reputation is VIRTUAL... )

Cooper said that websites show video footage of snipers aiming at US soldiers in Iraq and suicide bombers preparing and carrying out their attacks that is recorded and posted directly from cellphones.

Besides being used as propaganda stirring young Muslims in the West and Middle East to violence, radical Islamist sites amount to a "virtual university of terror," promoting the creation of cells without requiring members to travel to Afghanistan or Pakistan for training, as in the past, Cooper said.

"There is enough accurate information on the Internet to teach anyone to do pretty much anything," he said.

( We have tried to run operations thru just IM and Email and you end up with something like the London airport bombings. )

Bin laDEN TRANSCRIPT, NEW VIDEO 9.7.07

He says its against Islam to burn humans, even ants, but he obtained a fatwa to kill 10 million Americans with a nuke?

What I got from a first reading is that they don't plan on using a nuke in USA,Binny took alot of grief from peers and religious leaders for not giving USA the proper warning before 911, chance to convert to Islam. This is an Islamic warning.

And he seems to be doing so now, WHICH MAY FORTEL an attack soon.

Update:The vid title is "The Solution"The BLACK beard is a sign of being at war.He has no gun in view.His hands are in front of him in a non threatening way.He argues USA joining Islam from the indigenous point of view, ie lower taxes.An sincere attempt to convert USA, using argument based on our interests.He in effect says there are no innocent in USA.But have we had the offer of truce yet?His last video I believe.Binny sounds almost sad.

Feels like something big.

ODD video graphic freezes at 1:54, while audio goes on ( you can hear the beep beep as the video battery goes dead)? ( use zoom feature )

GeraldUpdate: The accoustic signature indicates it was recorded in a cave or cave like structure and made with poorly maintained equiptment, there is a drive wheel thatsqueeks all the way through the vid in the background, all indications Binny himselfmade the tape. made both with audio recorder and video recorder.VHS from the sound of the squeaking drive wheel.

All key terrorist web sites down,

Soon after Washington announced it had the video, all the websites that usually carry statements from al-Qaeda went down and were unaccessible, in an unprecedented shutdown, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

7 years old, and don't feel a day over 60

Well we are 7 years old this year ( March 2nd )But we were too busy to note it.So we are having a partyDon Geraldo Cigars for everyone.and we must have some good wine and cold beer here somewhere.Send birthday gifts via donation button/link.Here is a copy of my first ENTRY.

Friday, March 02, 2001
These will be my interactive field notes.
Today I lost another artist, and discovered blog.
Genius concept.
My home page is http://www.day7.html
Music research at : http://www./stations2.htm
SOCIAL CHANGE ENGINES & the THIRD WORLD
It used to be one had to know almost a specific computer language just
to get a program to run, now it is point and click.
Even the Bushmen are helping in a conservation project with 'palm pilots', which have had a Global Positioning System added. When they see an animal the push a icon key that relates to that animal that they can recognize, they are able to track herd movements, sizes, directions etc. even though they don't know any computereese.

# ) Arbitrage. Arbitrage used to be used only in financial and commodity markets. But it now applies to labor markets Lucent Technologies and Consolidated Edision turn to India and Ireland for software testing, cheaper labor.

Just these two points present a potential new process, for (in the future)a capitalistic motive to place Internet backbone and computers in thirdworld countries for Free because of a profit motive.
Icon oriented programs or translation programs and labor arbitrage opensthe door for the possibility of profit to outfit the third world with computers.Which also allows the third world to market finished products world widevia the Internet not just export raw goods with the help of IMF and theWorld Bank.

Stock MARKET AND THE BREAKING OF THE LAWS OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
New uses and discoveries for the INTERNET will center on "PROCESS" & "ORGANIZATION".

There are many examples of new Internet processes. Lets look at a few. The "Wall ST. Journal", January 1, 2000 had an extensive Issue on 'So long Supply and Demand' and 'the New Economy'.

As a veteran stockbroker I feel the laws of supply and demand are eternal, but are they? Are these laws slipping?

#1) The Industrial companies of the S&P 500 during the 1990's created $245 BILLION dollars of new wealth by converting atoms to bytes as in software. They send copies of the program over the Internet and rearrange the bytes on your computer. There is almost an unlimited source of atoms & limited demand, and as the software improves it becomes more valuable ($). Almost a reverse of Supply and Demand, isn't it. The Internet is presenting us with new paradigm a New Process.

#2) Free. Computer programs given away free over the Internet, (winamp, equal to a $200 stereo system, Free) because they make more money selling cheap but great UPGRADES, or from advertising.

Wanta read Iran's embassy EMAIL

"I'm not going to call the president of Iran and tell him that I got access to all their embassies. I'm DEranged, not suicidal! He has bombs and stuff…"

Could these email accounts be accessed globally and if yes why? For instance, could Uzbekistan's embassy in London successfully login into Uzbekistan's embassy in Moscow, and even worse, could a host not belonging to the embassy's network access these mailboxes for flexibility?

So somebody has read all their emails, hmmm why would anyone want to do that?

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Recruit vid: Suicide Commercial, 40 min.

al Qaeda's recruitment video is a call for sucide.They tell you, they want you to be killed.Give up your family, your future, your life and maybe go to hell, if you kill women, children or bomb Mosques of market places.

And you have to memorize your speech for the camera, AQ will have a few pages they want you to recite also.

They want YOU to DIE, but they hide their faces.Gadahn trying to do Nasheeds is like chalk on a black board..

Soon al Qaeda will be under control by an American, USA Army or Gadahn.

Part 1......

Part 2......

The training program is light.50% of the suicide bombers kill only themselves.Maybe they don't get any virgins?

This is an advertisement for suicide.They are not doing well, and need more right away.They want them to quit everything RIGHT AWAYand come to them.

Which sounds like the more successful idea?

To really apply ones self to creat change for an entire life time.look at Martin Luther King, Gandi.orTo blow ones self in a micro second hoping it does some good?

To throw Allah's greatest gift to you, your life, back into his face?Or to spend your life doing good?

American Jahidist, working for the Government.

When computer scientist Jim Gray was lost at sea earlier this year, Amazon stepped in to help. They arranged for a satellite sweep of the area and stored the images on their S3 storage service. They then created a task on their Mechanical Turk service to allow volunteers to scan the images to look for the boat. Thousands of people joined the search, but he was never found.

Now Steve Fossett, a 63 year old aviator, sailor and adventurer with a number of world records, has disappeared as well. On September 3, an airplane he was flying in Nevada failed to return. No one has any idea where he is.

His friend Richard Branson now says he will use Google Earth to try and find Fossett. Google may have taken new satellite photos over the last few days which may have information that can help find him.

With Gray, there was a lot of data to review and a boat appears as a very small number of pixels in a given satellite image. Looking for a plane, or even a weather disturbance, in the Nevada desert may not be much easier. Still, if Branson and/or Google call for volunteers to help with the search, I am sure that thousands will join the effort. And once again, Mechanical Turk would be a perfect way to organize the volunteers, even if they are looking at Google data.sOURCE

NOW SHIFT PARADIGM

USA Intel could use the same methods to search areas for terrorists, guns, trucks with guns, ppl planting IED's, burring bodies, attacks, groups waiting in ambush, search areas troops have not swept yet, watch ingress and egress points, military formations, filling tankers with explosives,and so on.

Their are thousands of volunteers waiting, you could even do double or triple coverage.Un-used resources...NSA and CIA note.

"Red Devils" in Sangin, Helmand, AMBUSH

Sangin, Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

Sangin, Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

Fly over: Sangin:

ambush:......Troops from Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon, "Red Devils" from Edmonton, Canada are ambushed as they conducted battle damage assessment in the village on July 15, 2006 in Sangin, Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

Internet Jihadist, life expectancy: 3 yrs

04 September 2007

Al-Muhajir al-Islami: also most completely dead

The deceased, AKA Abu Abdallah al-Maqdisi, was the admin of the al-Nusra forum. He achieved his martyrdom in Nahr al-Bared.

FWIW, the average life expectancy of so-called "Internet Jihadis" appears to be about two years, before they either drop out, blow up, get captured or killed, etc. al-Muhajir's run appears to have lasted about three years, starting when he was 20 +- and ending when he was 23.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Google's Blog error, SORRY

I just noticed that when you use custom search you don't get the indivual url to the story,You are sent to an archrive of the months stories , sorry I don't know how long this latest goolge glitch will last.

You should in fact be sent to the one, story you click on in the custom search pages, not that months archive with the story burried in it some where.

three compounds in the Pitigal Valley

Pitigal Valley

Pitigal Valley

Pitigal Valley

Pitigal Valley

ANSF kills insurgents in operation to secure Pitigal Valley

Elements from both the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army, advised by Coalition forces, detained 11 insurgents and killed over 20 others during a targeted strike against three compounds in the Pitigal Valley region of Afghanistan last night [September 1 2007].

The 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 201st Corps and officers from several district ANP stations in the area, acting on credible intelligence, located and air assaulted into the mountainous region of the Kamdesh district, Nuristan province, approximately 6 km (3.7 miles) from the border with Pakistan.

The same intelligence showed insurgent leaders have taken refuge in the villages of Pitigal, Shetigal, and Destigal as they travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The remoteness of the villages have allowed the extremists to stage attacks on ANSF and Coalition forces in lower valleys and retreat to their sanctuary.

While clearing the objectives the combined Afghan forces discovered an IED factory, various weapons, communication gear and uniform items.

The detainees were taken by ANSF for processing. They will be questioned regarding their involvement in insurgent activities before further disposition is determined.

"Last night's operation to defeat this stronghold demonstrates the IRoA's ability to project force into remote areas and legitimize its control over northeastern Afghanistan," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force-82 spokesperson. "This ANSF-led operation will have devastating effects on the insurgents' ability to operate in the area while demonstrating the futility of resisting the legitimate government of Afghanistan."

One Coalition service member was wounded during the attack. No other ANSF or non-combatant injuries or deaths were reported.

China hackers penetrate Pentagon computers

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday rejected a report that hackers controlled by its military had successfully entered a Pentagon network, calling the claim a product of "Cold War" thinking.

The Financial Times, citing former and serving U.S. officials, said Chinese People's Liberation Army hackers broke into a U.S. Defence Department network in June, taking data and prompting the shutdown of a system serving department secretary Robert Gates.

The report came a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised similar claims that Chinese hackers had infected German government ministries with spying programs.

China deflected the German reports, and now it has flatly rejected the U.S. claims, as well as denying reports that Chinese-made weapons have been used by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

"The Chinese government has consistently opposed and vigorously attacked according to the law all Internet-wrecking crimes, including hacking," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman JiangYu said.

"Some people are making wild accusations against China ... They are totally groundless and also reflect a Cold War mentality."

Beijing has devoted a large part of its rising defence budget to developing more advanced technology, including computer capabilities. But Jiang said her government was also the victim of computer attacks.

CHINESE MILITARY

The Financial Times cited one source familiar with the event as saying there was a "very high level of confidence ... trending towards total certainty" that the army was behind it. Continued...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 – The Defense Department receives many attempted cyber attacks each day and has measures in place to aggressively respond to and deter these attacks, a department spokesman said today.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman addressed media reports that a computer system in the Office of the Secretary of Defense was hacked into by the Chinese military earlier this year. Whitman confirmed that an attack did occur in June but declined to identify the origin of the threat. It is often difficult to pinpoint the true origin of an intrusion into computer systems and even more difficult to tie the intrusion to a specific nation or government, he noted.

"Cyber or non-kinetic type threats to military computer networks are viewed as just as real and just as significant as physical or kinetic threats," Whitman said. "The department aggressively responds to deter all intrusions to defend what is known as the GIG, the global information grid."

When the intrusion occurred in June, elements of an unclassified e-mail system in the Office of the Secretary of Defense were taken off-line briefly, Whitman said. However, the department has redundant systems in place, so ongoing operations were not disrupted, he said. The system was restored to full service within two or three weeks.

There are hundreds of attempted intrusions into the Defense Department computer network each day, the majority of which are detected and stopped, Whitman said. The nature of the threat is large and diverse and includes recreational hackers, self-styled cyber vigilantes, various groups with nationalistic or ideological agendas, transnational actors, and nation states. When appropriate, the department turns cases over to law enforcement officials for investigation, he said.

Yesterday, Afghan National Auxiliary Police officers, advised by coalition forces, defeated an attempted Taliban ambush near the Musa Qalah valley, in the Helmand province. Musa Qalah, is widely considered as the largest Taliban stronghold left in Afghanistan.

The combined force was supporting an International Security Assistance Force unit as it crossed the valley when Taliban insurgents attacked. The insurgents used small-arms, machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire from several buildings connected by an extensive trench system.

Afghan, coalition and ISAF forces returned fire using small-arms and crew-served weapons. As the insurgents reinforced their positions with additional fighters, the ground-force commander called in coalition close-air support.

The compounds, which were positively confirmed as enemy positions, were targeted in the air strikes. Seven Taliban insurgents were killed during the fighting.

"The Taliban should know they will constantly be hunted until this country is free of their terrorist activities," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force- 82 spokesperson.

On Aug. 31, Afghan National Auxiliary Police officers, advised by coalition forces, quelled an insurgent attack in Regay, in the Musa Qalah district of the same province.

The joint force was on patrol when insurgents attacked with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire from multiple compounds located in the northwestern portion of Regay.

Afghan forces maneuvered against the Taliban fighters after calling for close-air support. In the fight that ensued, nearly two dozen insurgents were killed.

Earlier that day, elements of the Afghan National Army, advised by coalition forces, continued an operation to clear the Taliban from both sides of the Musa Qalah valley during a combat patrol in Helmand province.

The Afghan-led patrol was about seven miles south of Regay village when insurgents attacked with RPGs and small-arms fire. The combined force repelled the attack using small-arms, machine-guns and MK-19 grenade launchers. The forces also called in air strikes as the fighting continued.

A number of enemy fighters were killed in the engagement.

"The continuation of this operation is having the desired effect of disrupting the insurgents in the heart of their support area," Belcher said. "The combat successes of the combined (Afghan national security forces) and coalition units are becoming routine in the Helmand province."

Afghan and coalition forces are conducting operations as part of the International Security Assistance Force's "Operation Palk Mesher" to disrupt and eliminate insurgents in the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, six men were detained and several others were killed during an Aug. 31 operation in Ghazni province targeting a militant responsible for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters.

Credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to a compound in the Dih Yak district where a weapons cache was found inside a vehicle. The cache, which included mortar and artillery rounds, numerous hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades, small-arms rounds and various ammunition vests, was destroyed.

During the course of the operation, some damage to area compounds and fields occurred.

Coalition forces tracked down several armed males who attempted to flee the area. The suspects engaged the forces with small-arms fire and were killed when coalition forces returned fire.

In the Pitigal Valley region of Afghanistan, a joint Afghan force advised by coalition forces detained 11 insurgents and killed more than 20 others during a targeted strike against three compounds Aug. 31.

The Afghan National Army's 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 201st Corps, and officers from several Afghan National Police stations in the area, launched an air-assault in the mountainous region of the Kamdesh district, Nuristan province. The district is about 4 miles from the border with Pakistan.

Intelligence reports indicated insurgent leaders take refuge in the villages of Pitigal, Shetigal, and Destigal as they travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The remoteness of the villages has allowed the extremists to stage attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in lower valleys and retreat to their mountain sanctuary.

While clearing the objectives, the combined Afghan forces discovered a homemade bomb-making factory, various weapons, communication gear and uniform items.

When the Chinook landed all thoughts came to the task at hand. The soldiers jumped off the noisy helicopter onto a quiet, moon-lit mountain above the Chowkay Valley in Kunar province. The mountain is over 7,000 feet above sea level.

The Taliban's biggest advantage in past fire fights has been their ability to dominate the high ground, but not this time.

Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment and elements of the Afghan National Army’s 2nd Kandak, 201st Corps, conducted Operation Destined Strike August 21-25. The U.S. soldiers were members of the 2nd platoons of the 2nd Battalion’s A, C and D companies.

"We came here to show the local populace that coalition forces aren't afraid to come into the Chowkay Valley," said Army 1st Lt. Kareem F. Hernandez, Company A 2nd Platoon leader.

After the initial insertion, the soldiers pulled security and waited for daybreak. During the night, they searched with night vision devices for 15 individuals spotted earlier near their position by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Once dawn broke, the U.S. and Afghan soldiers put their gear-laden rucksacks on, and broke trail down the mountain to the first farming village. The village and fields were hand cut out of the mountain side.

Hernandez said he was surprised at the reaction he received from the first villager he encountered.

"It was the first time in this country I had someone admit he knew who the Taliban were. He showed me where they had been coming through to attack us,” Hernandez said. “I've never had that happen before. They always act like they have no clue what I'm talking about."

Hernandez learned the Taliban in the area were from the Korengal Valley. The trip from the Korengal Valley to the Chowkay Valley takes the insurgents two to three hours, according the local villager.

Nuristan-Kunar Corridor

Bill Roggio and David Tate's articles point to the success of thecollation's engagements and Intel.September 1, 2007Flashpoint Afghanistan: Musa Qala. ( fight )The fight against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied extremists in eastern Afghanistan has heated up over the past year. According to a high-level NGO executive, al Qaeda has called for jihadis to flock to Nuristan to help push the Americans out. The open plea from al Qaeda may point to the importance Nuristan has held to the insurgency in this region along the border with Kunar province. Since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom there has been no sustained, conventional Coalition or government presence in Nuristan. Emboldened by a seemingly neglectful strategy in regard to the area, Nuristan and its isolated valleys have become a comfortable home for hundreds of terrorists and other anti-government allies.

In July 2007, Richard Strand, who has worked in and collected data on Nuristan for 40 years, published his interpretation of current issues plaguing, what he calls, "The Nuristan-Kunar Corridor". According to Strand, this corridor is the gateway to Kabul and al Qaeda is making a major push to secure it.

The bin Laden factor

It is commonly believed that Nuristan and Kunar could be hiding the elusive Osama bin Laden.

Here is a short list. Iran advances to No. 1, completing its nuclear-arms program undeterred and unhindered. America’s cowed Sunni allies–Saudi-Arabia, Jordan, the oil-rich “Gulfies”–are drawn into the Khomeinist orbit.

You might ask: Wouldn’t they converge in a mighty anti-Tehran alliance instead? Think again. The local players have never managed to establish a regional balance of power; it was always outsiders–first Britain, then the U.S.–who chastened the malfeasants and blocked anti-Western intruders like Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

With the U.S. gone from Iraq, emboldened jihadi forces shift to Afghanistan and turn it again into a bastion of Terror International. Syria reclaims Lebanon, which it has always labeled as a part of “Great Syria.” Hezbollah and Hamas, both funded and equipped by Tehran, resume their war against Israel. Russia, extruded from the Middle East by adroit Kissingerian diplomacy in the 1970s, rebuilds its anti-Western alliances. In Iraq, the war escalates, unleashing even more torrents of refugees and provoking outside intervention, if not partition.

Now, let’s look beyond the region. The Europeans will be the first to revise their romantic notions of multipolarity, or world governance by committee. For worse than an overbearing, in-your-face America is a weakened and demoralized one. Shall Vladimir Putin’s Russia acquire a controlling stake? This ruthlessly revisionist power wants revenge for its post-Gorbachev humiliation, not responsibility.

China with its fabulous riches? The Middle Kingdom is still happily counting its currency surpluses as it pretties up its act for the 2008 Olympics, but watch its next play if the U.S. quits the highest stakes game in Iraq. The message from Beijing might well read: “Move over America, the Western Pacific, as you call it, is our lake.”

Europe? It is wealthy, populous and well-ordered. But strategic players those 27 member-states of the E.U. are not. They cannot pacify the Middle East, stop the Iranian bomb or keep Mr. Putin from wielding gas pipelines as tools of “persuasion.” When the Europeans did wade into the fray, as in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, they let the U.S. Air Force go first.

Now to the upside. The U.S. may have spent piles of chips foolishly, but it is still the richest player at the global gaming table. In the Bush years, the U.S. may have squandered tons of political capital, but then the rest of the world is not exactly making up for the shortfall.

Nor has the U.S. become a “dispensable nation.” That is the most remarkable truth in these trying times. Its enemies from al Qaeda to Iran–and its rivals from Russia to China–can disrupt and defy, but they cannot build and lead.

For all the damage to Washington’s reputation, nothing of great import can be achieved without, let alone against, the U.S. Can Moscow and Beijing bring peace to Palestine? Or mend a global financial system battered by the subprime crisis? Where are the central banks of Russia and China?

Designed to annihilate the Iranians' military in three days

THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive air strikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.

Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners were not preparing for "pinprick strikes" against Iran's nuclear facilities. "They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," he said.

Debat was speaking at a meeting organized by The National Interest, a conservative foreign policy journal. He told The Sunday Times that the US military had concluded: "Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same." It was, he added, a "very legitimate strategic calculus".

President George Bush intensified the rhetoric against Iran last week, accusing Tehran of putting the Middle East "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust". He warned that the US and its allies would confront Iran "before it is too late".

One Washington source said the "temperature was rising" inside the administration. Bush was "sending a message to a number of audiences", he said – to the Iranians and to members of the United Nations security council who are trying to weaken a tough third resolution on sanctions against Iran for flouting a UN ban on uranium enrichment.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week reported "significant" cooperation with Iran over its nuclear programme and said that uranium enrichment had slowed. Tehran has promised to answer most questions from the agency by November, but Washington fears it is stalling to prevent further sanctions. Iran continues to maintain it is merely developing civilian nuclear power.

Bush is committed for now to the diplomatic route but thinks Iran is moving towards acquiring a nuclear weapon. According to one well placed source, Washington believes it would be prudent to use rapid, overwhelming force, should military action become necessary.

Israel, which has warned it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, has made its own preparations for air strikes and is said to be ready to attack if the Americans back down.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which uncovered the existence of Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, said the IAEA was being strung along. "A number of nuclear sites have not even been visited by the IAEA," he said. "They’re giving a clean bill of health to a regime that is known to have practiced deception."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, irritated the Bush administration last week by vowing to fill a "power vacuum" in Iraq. But Washington believes Iran is already fighting a proxy war with the Americans in Iraq.

The Institute for the Study of War last week released a report by Kimberly Kagan that explicitly uses the term "proxy war" and claims that with the Sunni insurgency and Al-Qaeda in Iraq "increasingly under control", Iranian intervention is the "next major problem the coalition must tackle".

Bush noted that the number of attacks on US bases and troops by Iranian-supplied munitions had increased in recent months – "despite pledges by Iran to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq".

It explains, in part, his lack of faith in diplomacy with the Iranians. But Debat believes the Pentagon's plans for military action involve the use of so much force that they are unlikely to be used and would seriously stretch resources in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Retired Sources from the Pentagon says they can take Iran out not using any Iraq or Afghan forces and "not even break a Sweat."G

DEBKAfile’s military experts conclude from the way Damascus described the episode Wednesday, Sept. 6, that the Pantsyr-S1E missiles, purchased from Russia to repel air assailants, failed to down the Israeli jets accused of penetrating northern Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean the night before.

The Israeli plane or planes were described by a Syrian military spokesman as “forced to leave by Syrian air defense fire after dropping ammunition over deserted areas without causing casualties.” He warned “the Israeli enemy against repeating its aggressive action” and said his government reserved the right to respond in an appropriate manner.

Western intelligence circles stress that information on Russian missile consignments to Syria or Iran is vital to any US calculation of whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program. They assume that the “absolute jamming immunity” which the Russian manufactures promised for the improved Pantsyr missiles was immobilized by superior electronic capabilities exercised by the jets before they were “forced to leave.”

Syria took delivery in mid-August of 10 batteries of sophisticated Russian Pantsyr-S1E Air Defense Missile fire control systems with advanced radar, those sources report. They have just been installed in Syria.

Understanding that the Pantsyr-S1E had failed in its mission to bring down trespassing aircraft, Moscow hastened Thursday, Sept 6, to officially deny selling these systems to Syria or Iran and called on Israel to respect international law. This was diplomatic-speak for a warning against attacking the Russian-made missiles batteries stations where Russian instructors are working alongside Syrian teams.

Western intelligence circles maintain that it is vital for the US and Israel to establish the location and gauge the effectiveness of Pantsyr-S1E air defenses in Syrian and Iranian hands, as well as discovering how many each received.

They estimate that at least three or four batteries of the first batch of ten were shipped to Iran to boost its air defense arsenal; another 50 are thought to be on the way, of which Syria will keep 36.

The purported Israeli air force flights over the Pantsyr-S1E site established that the new Russian missiles, activated for the first time in the Middle East, are effective and dangerous but can be disarmed. Western military sources attribute to those Israeli or other air force planes superior electronics for jamming the Russian missile systems, but stress nonetheless that they were extremely lucky to get away unharmed, or at worst, with damage minor enough for a safe return to base.

The courage, daring and operational skills of the air crews must have been exceptional. They would have needed to spend enough time in hostile Syrian air space to execute several passes at varying altitudes under fire in order to test the Pantsyr-S1E responses. Their success demonstrated to Damascus and Tehran that their expensive new Russian anti-air system leaves them vulnerable.

Washington like Jerusalem withheld comment in the immediate aftermath of the episode. After its original disclosure, Damascus too is holding silent. Western intelligence sources believe the Syrians in consultation with the Russians and Tehran are weighing action to gain further media mileage from the incident. They may decide to exhibit some of the “ammunition” dropped by the Israeli aircraft as proof of Israel’s contempt for international law. A military response may come next.

Pantsir-S1 or Panzir (“Shell" in English) is a short-range, mobile air defense system, combining two 30mm anti-aircraft guns and 12 surface-to-air missiles which can fire on the move. It can simultaneously engage two separate targets at 12 targets per minute, ranging from fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions and unmanned air vehicles. It can also engage light-armored ground targets.

The Pantsyr S1 short-range air defense system is designed to provide point defense of key military and industrial facilities and air defense support for military units during air and ground operations.

The integrated missile and gun armament creates an uninterrupted engagement zone of 18 to 20 km in range and of up to 10 km in altitude. Immunity to jamming is promised via a common multimode and multi-spectral radar and optical control system. The combined missile and artillery capability makes the Russian system the most advanced air defense system in the world. Syria and Iran believe it provides the best possible protection against American or Israeli air and missile attack. Stationed in al Hamma, at the meeting point of the Syrian-Jordanian and Israeli borders, the missile’s detection range of 30 km takes in all of Israel’s northern air force bases.